Found some wagoneer 44s on craigslist, they were out of an '89, but they had been swapped into a YJ. The front has warn lockouts, 4.88 gears, and a mini spool. The rear has 4.88s and a mini spool. I paid 800 for the two of them. Oh yea, the guy threw in a 3/8s hd dif cover too

Here are the axles when i first picked them up:

Gears:

Okay, so here are my plans.

For the upper link ill be using:

-7/8s ruff stuff heims

-1.5 inch ID .25 wall DOM, probably going to be sleeved, i need to do more research.

Lower links

-(2) 1 1/4 ruff stuff heims

-(2) ballistic fab poly bushings

-1.5 ID .25 wall DOM, possibly going to be sleeved with 2 inch ID DOM, not sure on the width yet. I still need to do a little more research.

-JCR OTK knuckle steering, and eventually chevy flat-tops and true high steer.

Im planning on a ~26' lower and a ~31 inch upper, Should keep the pinion pointed at the output on the t-case even at full droop. Around 8 inches of vertical seperation at the axle, and around 3-4 at the frame.

For all of the welding, ill be using my Marquette 220v with 75/25 gas, and .030 wire.

Practice welds:

I have all of my "junk" on order, i hope to start fabricating by this weekend.

The only progress i have on the axles, is that they are both stripped of their old YJ SOA brackets, they still need to be ground down to bare metal though.

Grinding/ cutting sucks in this weather, all the sparks stick right to my sweaty skin.

I guess ill throw in a before shot of my XJ, once im done, its gonna have 35 inch MTR/kevlar, and soft 8s (the official rim of jeepforum)

Thanks man! It should be a fun build. Once im done with this whole ordeal, ill probably do a 4 link rear.

As far as strength goes, they should be very well off with a some aftermarket shafts, and 35s.

If you dont mind me asking what did you pay for the JK 44s?

The rear JK D44 is basically brand new w/ 800 miles from a JK unlimited so it's only 30 spline w/ open carrier, but is complete caliper to caliper and in awesome shape. I picked up the rear a couple weeks ago and paid $300

The front JK D44 is still TBD, I'm just waiting for the call to go and pick it up. If I had to guess I would say it will be priced a little higher around $500 or so since it's 32 spline and has a locker.

From what I've seen, these axles go for a hell of a lot more then what I'm paying for but since the guy is in a hurry to get rid of them to complete his rock jock D60 upgrade the price was amazing. I think a standard rear JK D44 (non-rubi) sells for $700 / $800 depending on the condition and the front JK D44s sell for over $1,000

As far as strength goes for your axles, I wouldn't even worry about upgrading the shafts if they are 30 spline. Should be plenty strong enough to handle 35s w/ some moderate wheeling. Now if you do extreme wheeling then yes upgrade w/ some chromos. And if you plan on doing a 4 link rear would you consider doing a double triangular 4-link? I'm still trying to decide what I want to do, if I do anything at all.

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Whats the spline count on the outer stubs? I thought that was one of the only issues with waggy front axles besides being low pinion. I was told once by a wise man that the outter stubs are smaller then a 30 but it could of just been rumor. If so, upgrade the outers, new 760s and snap rings and be doneee. Sell those mini spools and get lunchboxes.

The rear JK D44 is basically brand new w/ 800 miles from a JK unlimited so it's only 30 spline w/ open carrier, but is complete caliper to caliper and in awesome shape. I picked up the rear a couple weeks ago and paid $300

The front JK D44 is still TBD, I'm just waiting for the call to go and pick it up. If I had to guess I would say it will be priced a little higher around $500 or so since it's 32 spline and has a locker.

From what I've seen, these axles go for a hell of a lot more then what I'm paying for but since the guy is in a hurry to get rid of them to complete his rock jock D60 upgrade the price was amazing. I think a standard rear JK D44 (non-rubi) sells for $700 / $800 depending on the condition and the front JK D44s sell for over $1,000

As far as strength goes for your axles, I wouldn't even worry about upgrading the shafts if they are 30 spline. Should be plenty strong enough to handle 35s w/ some moderate wheeling. Now if you do extreme wheeling then yes upgrade w/ some chromos. And if you plan on doing a 4 link rear would you consider doing a double triangular 4-link? I'm still trying to decide what I want to do, if I do anything at all.

Im pondering trying to do the same thing and get some JK 44s front and back instead of building another HP30 and xj44 for when i go 35s just incase one day i want 37s or something, i would possibly try to get the t-case from it also.

Whats the spline count on the outer stubs? I thought that was one of the only issues with waggy front axles besides being low pinion. I was told once by a wise man that the outter stubs are smaller then a 30 but it could of just been rumor. If so, upgrade the outers, new 760s and snap rings and be doneee. Sell those mini spools and get lunchboxes.

The rear JK D44 is basically brand new w/ 800 miles from a JK unlimited so it's only 30 spline w/ open carrier, but is complete caliper to caliper and in awesome shape. I picked up the rear a couple weeks ago and paid $300

The front JK D44 is still TBD, I'm just waiting for the call to go and pick it up. If I had to guess I would say it will be priced a little higher around $500 or so since it's 32 spline and has a locker.

From what I've seen, these axles go for a hell of a lot more then what I'm paying for but since the guy is in a hurry to get rid of them to complete his rock jock D60 upgrade the price was amazing. I think a standard rear JK D44 (non-rubi) sells for $700 / $800 depending on the condition and the front JK D44s sell for over $1,000

As far as strength goes for your axles, I wouldn't even worry about upgrading the shafts if they are 30 spline. Should be plenty strong enough to handle 35s w/ some moderate wheeling. Now if you do extreme wheeling then yes upgrade w/ some chromos. And if you plan on doing a 4 link rear would you consider doing a double triangular 4-link? I'm still trying to decide what I want to do, if I do anything at all.